The Joint Superior Aviation Authority of Berlin-Brandenburg (LuBB) wants to postpone the repair work on the runway at Schönefeld Airport (the later North Runway at BER). The authorities announced the decision during today’s Flight Noise Commission at Schönefeld Airport. The FBB had applied for the repair work and, parallel to the work, flight operations using the South Runway from 29 March 2015. Now the work is not supposed to begin until four weeks later.

Hartmut Mehdorn, Airport CEO, had this to say: “There is nothing about the concerns of the authorities which is the least bit understandable. We have met the requirements for the runway repairs, especially the requirements for noise protection. We have done everything within our power to ensure that the residents in the vicinity of the South Runway receive the noise protection they require. A government authority making its decision with common sense would never have reached a decision so far removed from reality. It is clear that a postponement of the repair work would mean substantial additional costs and completely unnecessary complication of the course of the construction work because the work would be pushed back into the bad weather period.”